(photo courtesy of Brandon Neil)
There are many off-the-beaten-path degree names out their – Transformative Language, Military History, Consciousness Studies, and Interdisciplinary studies in which students design their own major; as well as traditional fields of study such as Business Administration, English, Fine Art, and of course the educational catch all – Liberal Arts. With all these options how do students choose their major and what are they doing with their degrees?
Here are my answers to these questions:
How did you decide what to study in college?
Many people pursue a skill they have been previously successful with; A-grade math students can make excellent engineers or chemists. Others delve deeper into an extra-curricular activity; community theater enthusiasts may seek to make it big on Broadway. Still others use the college experience to explore where their special skill-set or passion lies and post-pone specializing until grad school arises on the horizon. I decided to get a degree in what makes me happy.
I saw the Sustainable Living Degree program at Maharishi University of Management (MUM) as a way to ensure my life had a positive impact on the planet and its creatures, facilitate my continued connection with nature, and to increase what I call the “happiness factor” in my life. The “happiness factor” is my capability to experience happiness. It consists of all the enjoyable things I do that make my least favorite activities more enjoyable. For example, as long as I can remember I’ve enjoyed being outside; Building snow-people in the winter, dancing in Spring rain storms, swimming outdoors in the Summer, and watching the leaves turn colors in the Fall. If I do these things as the seasons change, then seasonal maintenance activities like protecting myself against colds and the flu and spring cleaning are actually something I look forward to. By doing the things I enjoy, I am better able to accomplish things that I must get done and my overall success rate increases. This is how I approached my education: if I do something that makes me happy and brings me inner satisfaction, I’ll find a way for it to positively influence my quality of life and material success.
What do you do with a degree in Sustainable Living?
I graduated with a BS in Sustainable Living January 31st, 2008 and have been asked this question many times under different circumstances, first, when I was studying for my degree, next upon graduation, and then when I was working as a college Admissions Councilor at MUM. My initial answer was always the same – save the world! That is what my friends and I told each other when we were studying. We had lofty ideas of how we could change the world and create paradise anywhere for anyone, and if worse came to worst we would at least be equipped to create a mini- paradise (complete with window herb gardens, indoor compost units, and low flow faucet heads) in our post-college apartments.
The reality is that the earth is faced with enormous challenges right now – we’re losing ecosystems, energy prices are rising, temperatures are rising, and many people around the globe don’t have access to basic necessities, such as food and water. Thinking that the Earth needs us to save it may well be an egotistical idea, maybe it’s humanity that needs saving; but regardless of who or what needs saving, it’s difficult to ignore that there are global problems hungry for solutions.
Sustainable Living requires integrating practical skills and logical thinking with creative problem solving and imagination. After 4 years of studying things like solar and wind energy, organic farming and permaculture design, environmental law, and leadership in a hands-on setting, Sustainable Living students are primed to join the workforce of any industry, or to start their own organization, to help create solutions to life’s challenges.
Currently, I am the Sustainability Director for a new start-up online membership shopping club. We feature environmentally friendly and socially responsible products at a discount of 20% or more in order to make them more accessible to wider audience and lessen humanity's collective impact on the planet.
Choosing to purchase products from companies that are making as many positive choices as they can, in regards to their operations and product manufacturing, is a way of voting with your dollars and making a statement to industry leaders about the types of issues that are important to you. These statements are being seen, heard, and responded to. Companies as big as Wal-Mart are responding to these dollar votes by undergoing serious re-evaluations of their business practices and actively making progress to reduce their negative impact on the planet.
NGOs, Non-profits, community groups, as well as the Federal Government are rallying to find solutions and whether you are a degree holding individual, a sustainable hobbyist, or a concerned citizen there are ways to get involved and make an influential impact. Explore the options popping up in your local community or check out these sites for specific ways to pitch in:
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